Although this book is part of a series, I feel it can be read as a standalone.
Thea and Jackson were interesting, realistic characters who were dealing with grief and attempting to move forward with their lives. That proved to be somewhat difficult with Thea's dead husband serving as a roadblock to a new romance.
I enjoyed the tension in the book and Jackson's attempts to track down the gang responsible for killing his brother. The setting and characters drew me into the story and allowed me a few hours of escape.
I received a copy of the book from NetGalley. I was not required to leave a positive review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

A Tender Hope is the last book in a trilogy. It is a tender story with a lot of suspense. I love how Cabot, the author, makes the characters likeable and how they seem to come to life. I also love the way God is woven throughout the story. This is just a great story! It hard to put down!

Although with a broken heart with death of child and husband Thea must ease her pain to care for an infant. This book was wonderful and well written.

This is the third and final book in the Cimarron Creek Trilogy. Small town Cimarron Creek is filled with warm, wonderful, characters along with a few bad ones who drift through. I have really enjoyed getting to know the main characters in this town. This book focuses on Thea Michener who is widowed and has lost her baby along with Aimee Jarre, a young French woman who is trying to locate her biological mother.

This historical fiction read has touches of romance between 3 different couples in town and a hint of mystery as newcomer to town, Texas Ranger Jackson Guthrie, tries to track down the Gang of 4 who have been committing heists from wealthy people and gold shipments. One of the robbers has been killed and his widow, Thea Michener, may have info Jackson needs. With twists, turns, secrets, and surprises this was an enjoyable historical read that also contained a spiritual thread.

**I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions are mine alone. I was not compensated for this review.

I always look forward to a good read from Amanda Cabot and this one didn't disappoint! Her writing style is just amazing and her stories are right from the heart!
I love each of the characters and the plot kept me engaged through the whole story! I loved the mystery that was gently woven in along with the faith filled theme.
I think the saying goes is you can run but you can't hide because God knows everything we do even before you do it.
The past will always be lurking behind if you don't deal with it up front. Most especially if you don't give it all to God. Let him take care of it.
This is the 3rd book and final book in the Cimmaron Creek series. If you haven't read the 1st 2 then I strongly suggest it.
My thanks to Netgalley. NO compensations were received. All opinions are my own.

Thea is trying to escape her past but Jackson Guthrie is trying to catch the rest of the gang her deceased husband was part of. Together they seek to find a home for a lost infant while helping each other hope again.

This was a sweet, heartwarming story. I enjoyed it very much. If you enjoy gentle Christian romances, this is a great choice.

Amanda Cabot writes such beautiful, heart-warming books. I’ve truly enjoyed each book in this series. Her characters are always true-to-life and pull the reader into the story. I love the thread of faith that is woven seamlessly into this story. I have loved the community of Cimarron Creek, Texas. As the story progresses, so does the romance and mystery. This book is all about faith, family, and the support of good friends. I highly recommend this series.

When Thea Michener stopped to pick up her friend Aimee Jarre at the parsonage in Ladreville, Texas, she couldn’t wait to leave the town behind. Despite her love for the community, she needed a change—an escape from her sadness and secrets—and Cimmaron Creek promised just that.

Recently widowed, Thea hopes to cast off her widow’s weeds and create a new home in Cimmaron Creek as the town’s only midwife. Aimee, a young Frenchwoman, rides along because she believes her birth mother has moved there as well.

Jackson Guthrie, a Texas Ranger, wants nothing more than to find the Gang of Four—the ruthless bandits who murdered his younger brother. He recently discovered the identity of one of the gang—a Daniel Michener—and the information that one of the four dresses like a man during the robberies, but is actually a woman. He’s guessing she’s Daniel’s wife.

As he journeys to Cimmaron Creek, he comes across an abandoned infant by the side of the road. There’s nothing he can do but take the infant with him and hope someone in Cimmaron Creek will take him in. Handing the baby boy off to Thea Michener would provide the perfect ruse for discovering whether or not she belongs to the Gang.

When he sees Thea for the first time, he knows with certain that she doesn’t belong to the gang. She’s too short. But his lawman’s instincts tell him she’s hiding something.

When Jackson discovers a murdered woman who bears a striking resemblance to Thea, he doesn’t know what to think. Could Thea be the next target?

This book marks the final chapter in Amanda Cabot’s Cimmaron Creek Trilogy. She writes memorable characters with problems that today’s readers can relate to. The book ties up loose ends from the first two books in the series.

A Tender Hope is book three from Amanda Cabot's Cimarron Creek Trilogy. I enjoyed this one and will give it four stars.

This is the third and final book in the Cimarron Creek Trilogy. Even though you will miss lots of history from the Cimarron Creek family. This is still a stand a lone book. If you jump right into this book you will not have a hard time figuring out what is going on. If you like a series then start with book one (A Stolen Heart) and enjoy the entire series.

There are many different characters and things going on in this book, however the main story line is about Thea Michener and Ranger Jackson Guthrie. Thea and Jackson will have to come to grips with truth and try and find the gang of four before they find Thea.

There is lots of suspense, romance, sparks, mystery, history and more all wrapped into a great story.

I really enjoyed this book and I am happy to have rediscovered a fabulous author. Prior to this I had only read one book by this author, it was Summer of Promise. I read it five years ago but when I looked at the description again, I immediately remembered it. I can’t say that about every book I read.
A Tender Hope has turned out to be memorable as well. It is actually book 3 in the Cimarron Creek trilogy, but having NOT read the first two, I can assure you that it reads like a standalone book. The author does an excellent job of explaining who everyone is with just enough backstory that would not seem repetitive if you already knew some of the characters. But having liked this book so well, I will be happy to go back and read the other two in the series. Plus Cabot has a huge backlist of titles that I am anxious to explore.

In A Tender Hope, we meet Thea Michener, a young midwife, newly widowed and moving to another town to escape her past and start anew. She brings with her a young French woman called Aimee who recently arrived in Texas looking for her birth mother. Cimarron Creek has a host of great townspeople including the sheriff and his wife, a new school teacher, a few bachelors and some matronly matchmakers. But someone else has followed Thea to this town. Texas Ranger Jackson Guthrie is on the trail of a notorious gang of thieves made up of 3 men and 1 woman. Since Thea’s husband was murdered in a robbery, he thinks Thea might be part of that gang.
So there’s a mystery to be solved, a gang of thieves to be caught and a bit of romance, too. There is some religious content in that characters pray and think about what God has planned for them. It was realistic and appropriate, not at all forced into the story. This is a clean read.

Thea Michener is looking for new horizons. Her husband has been murdered, her son was stillborn and where she is just doesn't feel like home anymore. Since she does have a marketable skill, she can go where she likes, but Cimarron Creek is where she knows she can make her new start.

Jackson Guthrie is in Cimarron Creek to find the Gang of Four who have a reputation of robbing and killing. He thinks that Thea may have information about the Gang, since her husband is suspected of being part of the Gang. Thea really doesn't know anything about the Gang, or even whether her late husband was part of the Gang at all.

Amanda Cabot writes beautiful historical fiction and the quality of her writing is worth delving into. A Tender Heart is one of those novels worth taking the time to read. Her settings are imaginative as well as believable. Her characters play off each other and make the dialog and plot move along at a readable pace. This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a midwife to help you deliver.

My thanks go to Revell and NetGalley.com for providing the Galley I read and allowing me to review this book.

Amanda writes with such a way that shows her readers that she knows how to tell a story. I enjoy reading Amanda because she has a way of keeping me engaged from the start to the finish.

While I've really liked other books by this author, this was not my favorite. I'm not sure why. Maybe it just wasn't 'for me'. There really wasn't anything wrong with the book, it was well written and a good story. Just because I didn't like it doesn't mean you won't. Give it a try!! (I give it 3 stars because it was well written and a good story)

Amanda Cabot is one of my must-read historical romance authors and once again she has written an excellent book! "A Tender Hope" is book #3 in her Cimarron Creek Trilogy and it is such a good book to wrap it up. Thea is ready to start over with a new life and to put the past behind her we quickly learn as soon as we begin reading the book. Aimee is joining her on the trip to the new town and Thea is happy for the company and a friend. Thea is going to be working as the town's midwife and Thea is seeking answers as to her family as she is seeking to find her biological parents. The ladies are in for a surprise when they arrive in town to find a Texas Ranger and a baby on their new doorstep. Jackson is seeking answers and justice and he believes Thea is the woman he is looking for or at the very least she will be able to help him with answers. However, this is real life and things do not always go as planned or work out as smoothly as expected.
I thought this story flowed so nicely and the storylines were interwoven together well. The characters are all so easy to like and feel a connection with and I loved seeing some of the characters from the other books in this trilogy as well. Although I am sad to see this series end, I am eager to see what Amanda writes next!

A Tender Hope by Amanda Cabot

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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Story Notes

Amanda Cabot finishes her Cimarron Creek Trilogy with a nice story that included good characters but seemed to drag on unnecessarily.

Amanda Cabot is a newer author for me but I’ve enjoyed her stories. She is a capable writer who creates good characters and, usually, good plots. However, this latest story seems to have been a finisher story with not enough information included in it. Truly, this story could have been a novella and I would have liked it better. There was quite a bit of unnecessary padding in the conversations and the descriptions of action which made the story a bit boring on the whole. The story begins with the arrival of Thea Michener and Aimee Jarre in the town of Cimarron Creek. Thea has taken the position as a midwife and hoping to find some peace after the hurts of the past year. The murder of her husband and the stillbirth of her much loved baby weigh heavily on her heart but she is determined to make a new home. The appearance of a Texas Ranger bringing an abandoned newborn to her care is more than she bargained for but Thea is not a quitter. She will make her place and find a home for this precious baby no matter what. Texas Ranger Jackson Guthrie is on the trail of the Gang of Four. Believing Thea might be one of them, he has followed her to Cimarron Creek. Finding an abandoned baby gives him the introduction he hoped for but he quickly sees that she is clueless about the gang’s activities and its members. Thea truly loved Daniel Michener and believed he was a traveling salesman killed in an accidental shooting. How can he hurt her further by telling her that the man she loved was a thief and a killer? He still has to catch the rest of the gang to prevent further crime but Jackson’s time with Thea brings him a sense of peace and homecoming he’s not known since childhood. Can he do his job and still make room for a chance at love with a sweet young widow? Jackson and Thea will both have to decide if they want to take a chance on love and family together. Aimee Jarre has come to town looking for her birth mother. With only the clues she has recently found and a couple names to locate, she is not sure she will ever find her mother. However, her search yields more that she hoped when she discovers that her mother has recently been living in Cimarron Creek. Ironically, her mother traveled overseas in the search for Aimee just before Aimee makes it to town. Sending a letter off in hopes of a quick return, Aimee looks for ways to keep busy while she waits. Her mother’s return will bring her more than she believed possible but also gives rise to concern. A young man has been courting her for a few weeks and she is afraid of his reaction to situations surrounding her birth. Can she lay aside her fears and take a chance on love with a man who believes she not at fault for the circumstances of her birth. The lives of all these characters and the lead characters from past books come together in a wonderful ending that will leave all readers most pleased. The story itself was really nice and the characters fairly well developed. There were moments where things just took forever to be said or described and I definitely did some skimming in those passages. Its so important to make every conversation and description relevant or action based so that readers don’t get bored. As I said before, this one should have had more depth or been written as a novella so there was not a need for so much padding. I do think it is a necessary book to finish the series but I wouldn’t recommend it as a “great” read. Hopefully Ms. Cabot will put a lot more depth and plot into her next story.

I received this E-Book free of charge from Revell Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I will receive no fiscal compensation from either company for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.

I was allowed the opportunity to read this book for a fair and honest review.

A Tender Hope is my first introduction to Amanda Cabot's writing and I will definitely be reading more in the future. This tale follow the lives of Thea Michener, Jackson, Guthrie, and Aimee Jarre as they tried to navigate through different crucial moments in their lives. A recent widow, Thea moves to the town of Cimmaron Creek with her new friend Aimee, who is on the search for someone very special to her. Thea's plans to settle quietly into her new life are immediately interrupted by the appearance of Jackson Guthrie, a Ranger who just so happens to have an abandoned child that needs her care. From that day on things are never the same for any of the three. With the introduction of the baby, the Ranger following a case that's closer to Thea than she knows, and Aimee's quest things are just getting warmed up in Cimmaron Creek.

I enjoyed that Amanda Cabot's story followed more than just the quintessential, fated couple in most Christian Fiction. The addition of Aimee and her world was a pleasant surprise and deviation from the norm. Cabot's writing was well done, her knowledge of the times and acceptance of widows was well researched, and I overall very much enjoyed the story. I absolutely want to go back and read the other two books from this series and learn more about the characters you meet in this tale. If you're looking for a fun and engaging Christian Fiction book, I highly recommend A Tender Hope!

A Tender Hope had such a great story line but to me it lacked a punch. I kept reading to find out what happened although I felt it wasn't a page turner. I just never got the part where it clicked for me.

Given that, the descriptions were perfect and I felt like I was out there with the Ranger looking for the gang. I also could feel the deep sadness of Thea and the Ranger tragedy's they had experienced in their lives.

I kind of wish that this was two books, one to focus on Thea and one for her friend. Both of their stories could have been a fantastic book a piece!

A good romantic mystery that is worth the read.

I've read several of Cabot's revolutions. This was an okay book but the formatting of the book made it hard to follow. I struggled to continue reading even though the story caught my attention at the beginning. The a needs a second chance after her husband is murdered and her baby is stillborn and is given one when she is given a house in the town she moves to to work as a midwife. When a stranger shows up with a baby and asks her to take it in, she struggles. All the while, the ranger this 's her husband was part of a gang. Again...maybe I should go back and start the book again but I really struggled with wanting to finish the book.

This is a wonderfully sweet historical romance. This is the third book in the Cimarron Creek Trilogy. I loved all the characters throughout the series. Thea and Ranger Jackson really learn to love one another slowly but surely. I love the bit of intrigue where they are trying to find the mother of the baby that is found and they need to find out who the Gang of Four are. I received a copy of this book from Revell for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.